Sunday, April 22, 2018

Rule 5.09(b)(1): Any runner is out when he runs more than three feet away from his base path to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball. A runner’s base path is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely.

The play: In the top of the sixth, Benintendi hit a slow chopper up the line that was fielded by Oakland first baseman Matt Olson coming in on the ball. ...

Ever since Lovullo came aboard, the former bench coach for the Red Sox made it a point to establish core principles with the Diamondbacks revolving around trust, unity and an unbreakable bond of team-wide belief. That’s what carried them through their 93-69 season a year ago, and it’s what helped put them in position to try and become the first NL club since the 2003 Giants to win their first seven series to open a season.
They couldn’t do it without talent, and the Diamondbacks have ...

Saturday, April 21, 2018

The commotion in the White Sox dugout was the first sign something was wrong Friday night.

Sox relief pitcher Danny Farquhar collapsed just minutes after he threw 15 pitches against the Astros in the sixth inning of an eventual 10-0 Sox loss. As the game carried on at Guaranteed Rate Field, Sox trainers and emergency medical technicians quickly surrounded him, carried him into the clubhouse and eventually loaded him in an ambulance.

Each player has a striking difference or two from his father. Dante Bichette was a muscular outfielder; Bo is a wiry shortstop. Craig Biggio hit right-handed and came up as a catcher; Cavan hits left-handed and has played five positions as a pro, but never catcher. Guerrero is 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, shorter and stockier than his father at the same age. He played the outfield when he signed, like his father, but switched to third base for the Blue Jays.

Four games is a small sample size, but the early signs are not positive for Harvey as he attempts to rebound in the final year of his contract. The results are all too familiar to the previous two seasons when he struggled while dealing with injuries.

Harvey even sounded like he did the past two years by glossing over how poorly he pitched and instead focusing on what he believed to be a bright spot.

The righty put the Mets (13-5) in a 3-0 hole in the first by allowing a two-run homer to ...

The following is previously unseen rehearsal footage of Prince & The Revolution from the summer of 1984.

It was in this very room at Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse in Eden Prairie, Minnesota that Prince created and committed to tape one of his most beloved and iconic compositions, which six years later would become a worldwide hit for Sinead O’Connor.

Prince’s original studio version of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ is presented here for the first time.

The Mets’ new manager, Mickey Callaway, has so far proved imaginative and unafraid during the first sixteen games of his tenure, encouraging steals and the unexpected extra base in mid-rally. What is needed now to exorcise the bogey-team Nats is for him to emulate Fry’s example. Since baseball’s dimensions are different, he need only pee at the termination of the right- and left-field foul lines, where they meet the wall, and then—in consideration of the heavy in-game traffic around the ...

The article is behind the Washington Post Paywall. Some interesting thoughts and factoids about the evolution of the game the last few years.

“I actually really like the game,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said last year. “But it’s not what I like — the issue is what do the fans want to see. [And] our research suggests the home run is actually a popular play in baseball.”

Agitation against the use of the so-called “freak” deliveries in baseball will have no effect on the most unusual style of boxmanship of Benjamin Pellowitz, Philadelphia school boy, whose unique pitching is natural.

Pellowitz is fifteen years old. That old saying about the awkward boy, “His fingers are all thumbs,” acts with reverse English in this case, for it is on his two thumbs that Benny depends on for his success in pitching. One is a growth of the other ...

It is reported [in Boston] that Ed Barrow won’t last long as the Red Sox boss. He and Johnny Evers have had a blowout, Heinie Wagner replacing the little second sacker as utility man and coach. It seems Evers told Barrow that he believed 10 years at a desk had ruined his bench judgment. Evers is backed by several of the Red Sox regulars.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Braves announced an agreement with infielder Jose Bautista on a one-year, minor-league contract Wednesday. Bautista has reported to the team’s extended spring training in Florida.

The Braves announced he would play third base. Bautista manned third in eight games last season (38 innings), but hasn’t consistently played there since 2007, when he appeared in 126 games at the hot corner for the Pirates.

Lovullo was pressed on multiple occasions as to whether Walker’s ligament was torn or not, but he repeatedly said he didn’t know. Asked what else it could be if it wasn’t torn or frayed to some extent, he said, “I don’t know that answer. We’re optimistic that it’s going to be as good as possible.”

One thing seems certain: If Walker has a full tear of the ligament, flying to New York for a second opinion wouldn’t make any sense.

Anyone who’s ever tried to explain baseball to someone genuinely encountering it for the first time knows how hard it is to put the game into words. But I noticed something else about how I told the story. It was entirely about the batter and his brave adventure. It’s a strange decision, given that the batter is only half of the equation. In some sense, it’s understandable. When trying to explain any game, it’s a good idea to start with one of the universal features of competitive ...

An English sportsman, who was resting at Mineral Wells, Texas, was much interested in the Chicago White Sox, and in Eddie Cicotte especially. He had heard that Cicotte was the leading pitcher in the American league last season, and couldn’t understand why an athlete, apparently so short, could be such a marvel.
...
[The Englishman asked Cicotte] “And may I inquire if you ever play cricket?”

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

When he trotted out for the eighth inning, Jacob deGrom became the first Mets starter to throw a pitch that late in a game this season. That lack of length hadn’t mattered much, as the team’s bullpen had been virtually spotless over the season’s first two weeks. DeGrom allowed two singles and struck out Michael A. Taylor, and Mickey Callaway made his move. The Mets co-ace left after 103 pitches and with what looked like ample cushion for a win. The bullpen needed only to get five outs ...

“While driving from the airport to the hotel through brutal cold conditions, ice from the roof of the staff bus flew off and hit the windshield of the trailing bus,” Stoneberg wrote. “The windshield was smashed, glass flew in the face of the driver, and one of our players had to assist with steering the bus to safety on the highway. I am so glad that all our players are safe due to quick action of our team ...

The effort is being made to introduce “kittem,” a modified form of baseball, into New York playgrounds. The extra sunlight is expected to greatly augment interest in the sport, the scheme of which is as follows:

Kittem is played with a large twelve-inch ball, the clenched fist being used as a bat. The game has been very successful in Detroit, where it originated; Minneapolis, St. Paul and other large cities where daylight-saving laws have been ...

Unfortunately for Happ, this is the first April of his major-league career, so he doesn’t have a full season under his belt to prove it’s an anomaly. After a couple of hits Friday, Happ was asked if having five hits in eight 8 at-bats over three games was encouraging after his rough start, despite the small sample size.

“That’s a small sample size,” he said of his 41 at-bats. “Just wait until the end of the year.”